Rosalind stepped between them and placed a hand on each of their chests. “If you intend to fight, I will work with Jasper and ignore you both.” She turned to Rhys. “
I
believe Christopher, and that is enough for me.”
Rhys patted her arm. “All right, my lady.”
“Thank you.”
Jasper bowed. “I, however, cannot ally myself with a Druid killer. Now that you are back, Lady Rosalind, there is no longer any need for me to guard the king. However, I pledge you my support, and I will help you in any way I can before I leave.”
“Thank you, Jasper.” Rosalind wasn’t surprised that Jasper had refused to help them. He had always struck her as a remarkably inflexible man. And perhaps it was unfair to blame him. It had taken her a long time to get used to the idea of working with one of her family’s enemies. “Perhaps, before you go, you could tell us anything you know about the Boleyns’ unusual habits.”
Jasper hesitated. “I suspect the Lady Anne and her brother hunt for their food together at night.”
“Why do you think that?”
“It is just that occasionally I get a sense that magic is being used. You know how it is possible to feel it in the air? And sometimes the Lady Anne’s servants and clique seem a little dazed in the morning, as if they have slept rather more heavily than usual.”
Rhys nodded. “It is certainly possible. Perhaps we should start by watching the Lady Anne at night. If we can catch her and her brother outside while they were feeding, we might be able to dispose of them without anyone knowing we were involved.”
“That would be ideal,” Rosalind agreed. She glanced at Christopher and saw a hint of distaste on his face. It must be hard for him to hear them discuss the death of two of his friends so casually. “Whatever we do, we must make sure we do not expose ourselves to the king’s gaze.”
“I agree,” Christopher said. “Best to keep this as quiet as possible.”
Jasper ignored Christopher and turned to Rosalind and Rhys. “I will leave you to your plans and wish you good fortune.” He bowed and disappeared back into the gloom.
Rosalind watched him leave. “I didn’t really expect him to stay.”
“Neither did I. We don’t need him,” Rhys said. “We’ve dealt with worse than this.”
“Not much worse,” Rosalind muttered. “We have two Vampires to kill this time, and because of their familial link, we’ll have to try and dispose of them at the same time, or they will warn each other off.”
Christopher cleared his throat. “George isn’t actually her brother.”
“She told you that?”
“Indeed, she said she turned him herself, which means they
are
linked by blood—”
“But not quite so closely.”
Christopher took Rosalind’s hand and brought it to his lips. “It makes no difference. We will succeed. We have to. Lady Anne is definitely working with the Vampire Council, and she is very confident of success.”
Rosalind snatched her fingers away. “Anne has been very
confiding
, has she not?”
“You knew I was going to speak to her.”
“But did you succeed in changing her mind?”
His expression sobered. “No, she seemed quite convinced she was going to succeed.”
“Then we’ll have to kill her, won’t we?”
“You make it sound so very . . . final, Rosalind.”
She met his gaze. “It has to be.”
He sighed. “I suppose it does.”
Before Rosalind could challenge him about his divided loyalties again, Rhys cleared his throat. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you both tomorrow night.”
Christopher nodded. “That is agreeable to me.”
Rhys grinned. “I thought it might be.” He started back toward the palace, leaving Rosalind staring at Christopher. He smiled at her and held out his hand.
“Shall we walk back together?”
Even though Rosalind wasn’t wearing skirts, she curtsied. “That would be very pleasant, sir.”
“We’ll be quite safe as long as we are quiet and don’t draw attention to ourselves.”
She glanced up at his moonlit profile. “Well, I don’t intend to make a spectacle.”
His soft laughter warmed her. Sometimes, when they were alone like this, she could almost imagine a future for them together, hand in hand, mind linked to mind . . .
The scent of apple blossom drifted past her nose and she shoved Christopher to one side. “Look out!”
A dark shape dropped down out of the tree in front of her, followed by another and then another. Christopher didn’t hesitate to draw his sword and line up beside her. Rosalind brandished her dagger and slowly backed away from the approaching Vampires. She couldn’t smell honeysuckle or fox, so it wasn’t the Boleyns.
Beside her, Christopher cursed. “Why does this happen whenever I’m with you?”
“I rather thought it was the other way around.” Rosalind glanced over her shoulder, but there didn’t appear to be any more Vampires behind them. “If you don’t want to help me, I understand—just stay out of my way.”
“Of course I’ll help—I have no wish to see you skewered.”
Rosalind laughed. “There are only three of them. I can take them all.”
The first Vampire moved in, fangs extended, long blond hair blowing in the breeze. Rosalind waited until the female sprang and moved swiftly to her left, catching the Vampire’s shoulder with a slash of her dagger. The female screamed and twisted back toward Rosalind, claws extended, fetid breath hissing out.
In her side vision, she observed the second female Vampire launch herself at Christopher. He brought his sword up and parried the blow, stopping the Vampire in midflight. She knew Christopher was an excellent fighter, but always worried whenever he engaged with the Vampires, particularly the females. With a start, she returned her attention to her own problems and recoiled as one of the female Vampire’s claws caught her cheek. She pivoted and stabbed her assailant through the heart.
Before she could even kick the body away, the third of the trio was on her back. Strong bony fingers wrapped around her throat, choking the breath out of her. Rosalind staggered under the weight of the male Vampire and went down on one knee. She struggled to breathe, and everything started to go black. She brought her dagger upward and slashed at the Vampire’s fingers.
With a howl of pain, the Vampire’s grip loosened, and Rosalind was able to roll to one side and finish the Vampire off. As she fought to stay conscious through the muddle of blood and the smell of dying rat, she saw that Christopher’s opponent was now headless and on the ground.
He ran across to her, his bloodied sword still out, his gaze intent. “Are you all right?”
She was about to answer him when his expression changed.
“Move!”
She rolled to one side and the ground disappeared beneath her. As she fell, she saw his sword blade flash past her head and decapitate the blond female Vampire she had partially killed. When she opened her eyes she was staring up at the night sky from the bottom of the sizable ditch that edged the apple field.
“Are you injured?”
She blinked and looked up to see Christopher sliding down the bank of the ditch, his boots crunching through the dead leaves and branches. He had sheathed his sword. She hoped he’d had the good sense to make sure all the Vampires were separated from their heads.
“Rosalind!”
His impatient shout formed in her mind and lingered there. He knelt beside her and she simply stared up at him.
“You have been practicing. I can hear you in my head.”
“I have indeed. It’s a useful skill, is it not? To be able to communicate without words?” He closed the gap between them and kissed her forehead. “Are you sure you are all right?”
She stared into his deep blue eyes and relaxed the last of her barriers, felt him penetrate her mind with the same sense of knowing and completion as when he penetrated her body.
“I like that comparison, my love, and I hope to be inside you very soon.
”
Rosalind concentrated hard.
“We will have to see about that. Are all the Vampires destroyed?”
“Aye, they are.”
His mouth descended over hers and she kissed him, felt his mingled relief and pleasure build right alongside hers. She knew it wouldn’t be long before they became one in all possible ways, their bodies joined skin to skin, their mouths fused . . . She slid her hand into his black hair and held him tight. After yet another close encounter with death, having Christopher in her mind and in her arms made her feel alive again. They were still linked and it felt so right she could no longer understand how they could live without each other.
He lifted his head and stared down at her, ran his thumb over her lower lip. “We are still bound together. Did you ever doubt it?”
“I wasn’t sure . . .”
His eyes snapped fire. “You doubted me?”
“I doubted whether the feelings would last.”
“Because we fulfilled the prophecy?”
“I thought it was a possibility.” Rosalind eased out of his arms.
“Not for me. You can blame it on my Vampire family’s blood, but I regard you as my mate for all eternity. Why else do you think I’m prepared to ally myself with you?” He glared down at her. “For as long as we both live.”
“You would prefer to live for all eternity?”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I would like to live beyond the current year.”
“What do you mean?”
His smile wasn’t convincing. “Nothing, my love. I’m sure we’ll survive this.”
“Christopher . . .”
He squeezed her fingers. “I’ll tell you if there is need.”
She took a long, slow breath both to clear her mind and to remove the taste of death an encounter with a Vampire always brought. “We have to take care of the bodies. I’ll go and find Rhys—”The ground seemed to tip toward her and she felt Christopher grab her elbow and steady her.
“Your face is bleeding.” He took out his kerchief and patted at the blood on her cheek. “One of the Vampires caught you with her claws.”
“Yes.” Rosalind stood patiently as he dabbed at the trickle of blood. “I wonder why they attacked us.”
He threw the bloodied cloth onto the ground. “Mayhap to see where our loyalties lie.”
“
Your
loyalties, you mean?”
“Probably.” He grimaced. “And I have failed the test. Now they know I’m not averse to killing those I have sworn to protect.”
“Only because they tried to kill you! You did nothing to provoke them.”
“That is true, and they should be used to that by now.” He looked toward the palace. “I suppose we should get back.”
She sensed his ambivalence about killing Vampires resurface. He might swear on his oath that he was on her side, but old loyalties died hard and Christopher’s feelings for the Vampire community were more complicated than he ever chose to admit. But he had to deal with his conscience in his own way. She’d already realized that nothing she said would make a difference.
She wiped her dagger on her ripped hose and took Christopher’s proffered hand. Her cheek was throbbing and she suddenly felt tired.
“Rosalind, I can go and find Rhys for you if you wish to retire to bed.”
She struggled to gather her thoughts. “No, I have to see him.” She touched her cheek and winced. “Vampire claws can be infected. I’ll need a special potion for this.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Rosalind tried to smile, but it hurt too much. “It’s of no matter.”
He stopped suddenly and drew her against his shoulder, his voice rough, his arms wrapped around her. “Do you have any idea how much I hate to see you fight and not be able to protect you?”
She rested her forehead against his leather jerkin, glad of his support. “I’m quite capable of defending myself.”
“I know that, but I still hate it.”
She closed her eyes and listened to the rapid beat of his heart, the urgency of his breathing, and felt his warm strength surround her.
“Rosalind,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
His words forced her to pull away from him. “I’m fine. The cut is just stinging a little.”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “Then let’s get you straight to Rhys.”
Chapter 8
C
hristopher winced as Rhys applied a vile-smelling green ointment to Rosalind’s cheek. He hated to see her suffer, especially when every painful touch of Rhys’s fingers resonated through his own mind. Luckily, Rhys had still been awake and had taken them into one of the tack rooms to clean up while he fetched his supplies. Rosalind looked exhausted, her skin pale against the angry-looking gouges, her teeth set into her lower lip as if to deny the pain. Christopher leaned forward and took her hand.
“Rhys has almost finished, love.”
“Indeed, I have, my lady,” Rhys said. “Come back tomorrow and I’ll take another look to be sure, but I think you’ll be fine.”
Rosalind opened her eyes. “Thank you, Rhys.” Her gaze shifted to Christopher. “And thank you for helping me with the Vampires.”
“There is no need to thank me. I could hardly stand there and watch you take them all on.”
“You could have.”
Irritation flared in his chest. “I have allied myself with you. Don’t you believe me?”
“I think
you
believe it. Whether it is that simple, I know not.”
Christopher sighed. “You’re right. It isn’t that simple. But I intend to do my best to protect you—and save the king. Will you at least believe that?”
“Of course.” Rosalind squeezed his fingers and her faint smile warmed him all the way to his heart.
Rhys stood up and began packing away the soiled rags and ointment. “Perhaps you should go to bed, my lady.”
Christopher winked at Rosalind. “Rhys might insist that you are not his to order around, my love, but he seems to have some difficulty remembering it.”
Rhys swung around. “I remember it. I’m just far too used to telling her what to do.”
“As if you were my older brother.” Rosalind allowed him to help her stand. “I suspect you’ll always be like that.”
Rhys chuckled and turned away, but not before Christopher had caught the hint of pain in his expression. It was hard to give up old loyalties. He, of all men, understood that.